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Sunday, April 29, 2012

Zach is eighteen. He is
bright and articulate. He's also an alcoholic and in rehab instead of
high school, but he doesn't remember how he got there. He's not sure he
wants to remember. Something bad must have happened. Something really,
really bad. Remembering sucks and being alive - well, what's up with
that?

I have it in my head that when we're born, God writes
things down on our hearts. See, on some people's hearts he writes Happy
and on some people's hearts he writes Sad and on some people's hearts he
writes Crazy on some people's hearts he writes Genius and on some
people's hearts he writes Angry and on some people's hearts he writes
Winner and on some people's hearts he writes Loser. It's all like a game
to him. Him.God. And it's all pretty much random. He takes out his pen
and starts writing on our blank hearts. When it came to my turn, he
wrote Sad. I don't like God very much. Apparently he doesn't like me
very much either.

This
was a Goodreads-recommended book, based off of my Favorites list. I
liked it, but I was expecting something more along the lines of Ellen Hopkins or Laurie Halse Anderson.
Which is completely unfair to Sáenz; I should be rating this book
based on its own merits, not against other authors' works.

That
being said, I did like this addiction/recovery book. It was a quick
read, full of intrigue and YA angst (my own addiction), and was full of
characters I could relate to.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Ever since the death of
his shellan, Tohrment has been a heartbroken shadow of the vampire
leader he once was. Brought back to the Brotherhood by a self-serving
fallen angel, he fights again with ruthless vengeance, unprepared for a
new tragedy. Seeing his beloved in dreams—trapped in a cold, isolated
netherworld—Tohr turns to the angel Lassiter to save his former mate.
The only way to rescue her is for Tohr to love another. As war with the
lessers rages, and a new clan of vampires vie for the Blind King’s
throne, Tohr struggles between an unforgettable past and a hot,
passion-filled future. But can his heart let go and set all of them
free?

Not my favorite of the BDB series. I love Tohr and I lost it when Wellsie died, so I was really looking forward to reading about his HEA. Unfortunately, it felt very forced: I don't understand why he had to fall in love with another female in order for Wellsie to go into the Fade. There are plenty of ways to move forward without being pressured into something you're not ready for.

It was nice to get to know No'One better and I think her relationship with Xhex is beneficial for the both of them. I didn't see the attraction between Tohr and No'One, though. In each of the other books, we get a real sense of they why
behind the pairings. And this one just didn't seem to fit. (I also
didn't like the Phury/Cormia pairing, so I'm shrugging this one off,
too.)

I am really looking forward to the next book in the series; Ward has set up two fantastic romantic pairings!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

One cold night, in a
most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens—both named Will Grayson—are
about to cross paths. As their worlds collide and intertwine, the Will
Graysons find their lives going in new and unexpected directions,
building toward romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of
history’s most fabulous high school musical.

Hilarious, poignant,
and deeply insightful, John Green and David Levithan’s collaborative
novel is brimming with a double helping of the heart and humor that have
won both of them legions of faithful fans.

I'm SO glad that I listened to the audiobook version. This book is
absolutely awesome and full of win!

I love the singing (I need a friend like Tiny!) and the IMs (hilarious!). I
would have overlooked them had I read the book instead.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

I've
often wondered how you know if your kid is going to end up a killer.
Is there some sort of faulty wiring in his brain? Is she so filled with
rage? How do you--as a parent--ensure that your child doesn't become
the next Manson, Dahmer, or McVey?

We Need to Talk About Kevin
delves into one woman's experience--written in letters to her estranged
husband--in the aftermath of her son's school shooting rampage. She
wonders if it's her fault. And honestly? How could she NOT think that
she had something to do with it. While ultimately a person needs to be
held accountable for his actions, I doubt there are many parents that
wouldn't ask "where did I go wrong"?

The writing is beautiful and
hauntingly descriptive, which is why I'm giving this book four stars
instead of three. This is not a book I'm going to forget about.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

On a May afternoon in
1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and
disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil,
gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It
was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was
struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of
the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.

Wow. I just... And then... But...

How
do you put into words something as horrifying as war? I can't.
Thankfully, someone can. Hillenbrand did an amazing job of portraying
what Louie Zamperini's life was like before, during, and after WWII.

I
am a back-of-the-pack runner and will never know what it feels like to
run a four-minute-and-change-mile, but I could feel the urgency and
excitement in Hillenbrand's descriptions. My heart raced (no pun
intended) with every PR and new record! The local races! Regionals!
Nationals! The Olympics! Were I not a runner, I may not have found
this part so enthralling.

I was equally enthralled with
Zamperini's military training, missions, survival during a 2,000-mile
journey on a raft with almost no provisions, and the eventual descent
into a series of hellacious POW camps. I am a pacifist, so there were
times I felt very uncomfortable with the fighting and had to remind
myself that I was reading a book about war. Then I rolled my eyes at
myself and continued on.

I have no idea how any Pacific POWs were able to survive at the hands of their abusers.

I'm
really glad that the book addressed how hard it was for POWs to return
to "normal" life. It's such a huge problem and I hope that any talk of
PTSD can help current soldiers returning from deployment.

This is a fantastic book and really helped me to understand some of what happened in Japan during WWII.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

It's been three years since the devastating accident . . . three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Julliard's rising star and Adam
is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity
girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings
the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city
that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their
hearts to the future-and each other.

Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance.

A perfect sequel to If I Stay.
Like the first book, it's a kick-in-the-gut read from start to finish.
We learn what happened after Mia woke up and how their relationship
progressed and ended.

I kept wondering if -- after seeing each
other again in NYC three years later -- they were going to get back
together or go their separate ways once and for all. Either ending
would have done this book justice.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

In a single moment,
everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the
accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with
her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own
damaged body is taken from the wreck...

A sophisticated, layered,
and heart-achingly beautiful story about the power of family and
friends, the choices we all make, and the ultimate choice Mia commands.

Big, fat, sloppy, ugly tears. I love this book HARD and finished it in one day. I can't believe I waited so long to read it!

The
writing is beautiful, the story is touching, and I love how the book
switches seamlessly from the present to the anecdotal past. I felt like
I had been punched in the gut with every new chapter.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Haven Terra is a
brainy, shy high school outcast. But everything begins to change when
she turns sixteen. Along with her best friend Dante and their quiet and
brilliant classmate Lance, she is awarded a prestigious internship in
the big city— Chicago—and is sent to live and work at a swanky and
stylish hotel under the watchful eyes of a group of gorgeous and
shockingly young-looking strangers: powerful and alluring hotel owner
Aurelia Brown; her second-in-command, the dashing Lucian Grove; and
their stunning but aloof staff of glamazons called The Outfit.

Disclaimer: I have been friends with Aimee since we were kids, so many people might consider this review biased.

I
was intrigued by the storyline from the moment I read the synopsis: a
teenager out on her own in "the big world" for the first time, dealing
with an unknown past, and finding herself fighting the forces of evil.
AND the protagonist is a nerd? Right up my YA alley!

The writing
is beautiful: Aimee understands how to make the words flow to paint a
clear picture in the reader's mind. At times it distracted from the
story, especially when the scene was supposed to be urgent and the prose
only made for a slower pace.I do wonder why the
internship took place during the school year. Aimee and I--and our
group of friends--were nerds in high school, and I can't imagine any of
us taking a semester off like that.

Personally, I found it hard to immerse myself into the story simply
because I do know the author. I kept imagining my former classmates and
wondering who Aimee might have modeled her characters after.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Lakshmi is a
thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a small hut on a
mountain in Nepal. Though she is desperately poor, her life is full of
simple pleasures, like playing hopscotch with her best friend from
school, and having her mother brush her hair by the light of an oil
lamp. But when the harsh Himalayan monsoons wash away all that remains
of the family’s crops, Lakshmi’s stepfather says she must leave home and
take a job to support her family.

He introduces her to a glamorous
stranger who tells her she will find her a job as a maid in the city.
Glad to be able to help, Lakshmi journeys to India and arrives at
“Happiness House” full of hope. But she soon learns the unthinkable
truth: she has been sold into prostitution.

An old woman named
Mumtaz rules the brothel with cruelty and cunning. She tells Lakshmi
that she is trapped there until she can pay off her family’s debt—then
cheats Lakshmi of her meager earnings so that she can never leave.

Lakshmi’s
life becomes a nightmare from which she cannot escape. Still, she lives
by her mother’s words— Simply to endure is to triumph—and gradually,
she forms friendships with the other girls that enable her to survive in
this terrifying new world. Then the day comes when she must make a
decision—will she risk everything for a chance to reclaim her life?

It's
hard to say that I love a book that was so hard to read. I knew the
subject matter going in, so I didn't expect a happy read. I also didn't
expect to be crying the majority of the time I was reading. And I mean
full sobs, people! My heart hurt for Lakshmi, the thirteen-year-old
girl who was sold into prostitution by her step-father (though he may
have done so unknowingly, expecting her to find work as a maid).

Rarely has a book affected me like this. I feel sick to my stomach and I want to fly to India right now
to help save these girls. I can't help but imagine my own daughter in a
similar situation, and that certainly brings on the ugly tears again.

This
is a relatively short book that should be read in one sitting. It's
incredibly powerful and I have no doubt that it will stay in my thoughts
for a very long time.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

I was really excited when I learned that I had won this book. Such an awesome premise and very timely as we remember the Titanic's
sinking one hundred years ago. What would happen if someone went back
in time and changed the course of history? One small change on the
night of April 14, 1912 changes the world. How could I not absolutely
love this book?

I'll tell you how. First of all, it was long.
And I don't mean long as in "wow, there are a lot of pages" (though
there ARE a lot of pages), I mean long as in "omg this book is taking me
forever to read." It either should have been cut into thirds and made
into a trilogy or cut by 25%.

I went back and forth between wanting to read more and wanting to stop reading completely.

This review has two parts: 1) the beginning & the end; and 2) the middle.